Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins get Rutger McGroarty back ahead of CRUCIAL 5-game stretch!

Starting point is 00:00:00 The penguins are making a couple of lineup changes tonight due to Brian Russ suspension and Jackson, I haven't being out for the next couple of months. And Pat and I are going to give you all our thoughts on those changes, plus get you all set for Penguins Blackhawks right after this. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes.

Starting point is 00:00:35 You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Joined by my host, Patrick Damp, you can follow him on all social media platforms at Send him for Wet. You can also follow this show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. And you can find us on Instagram at Lockdown underscore Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. Pat, I'm going to take you back to Tuesday's episode of Lockdown Penguins.

Starting point is 00:01:03 where we discussed the Brian Russ suspension, who could come in for him, all that good jazz. We got part of it right, but also part of it wrong. And let's start up with the things we got right. They didn't want to break up the Novak line, which that second line is going to stay intact tonight with Novak, Malkin, and Chinakov. But they did break up the Kindle line. And you mentioned this one. This is something that you threw out there and you're right about.

Starting point is 00:01:30 Justin Brzo is going up to the top line with. Sidney Crosby and Ricard Raquel and Anthony Manthel will stay on the third line with Ben Kindle and Rucker McGority will be on that line tonight. He was called up from Wilkesbury earlier today. I did say it opened up the door for Hayes. I thought it was the most likely path. Well, I was wrong about that. I'll take the L on that one, my friend. We both did mention that there was a chance that Rucker could get called up, but I just thought they were going to kind of go for the safe path here and just put Hayes in just because he's been the 13th forward all year.

Starting point is 00:02:04 Dammew said, the hell with that. He's still going to be a healthy scratch. And Rucker McGority, as I said, has been called up. He will be on the third line with Ben Kendall and Anthony Manta. And I'm intrigued about that one. I think McGority ever since he went down, he's played very well, especially as a playmaker, excuse me, he earned his way back up to the Penguins. And you've seen some chemistry already between Kendall and Magrorty.

Starting point is 00:02:29 So I'm really excited about that. And when you combine those two with Manta, who has been one of their better goal scores, it gives you a line that I'm fascinated to see how it goes. So McGrady, he's earned the call up. I'm excited to see him try to continue that chemistry with Kendall. But Pat, you called it with Brazil. He will be up on the top line. Second and fourth lines are staying the same.

Starting point is 00:02:55 I'm of a few mindsets here. One, yes, I got to give myself a pat on the back because I did call this. But I look at it from a couple different angles. One, I do think even though his play as of late has not been as exciting as it was early on with Justin Brazo, he's starting to find his way back to where he was early in the season. But his style of play does mesh pretty well with Sidney Crosby. You look at the myriad of wingers. have joined Sidney Crosby outside of your Jake Gensel's, Ricard Raquel's, and I'm going to go

Starting point is 00:03:34 way, way back with this one, Mary and Hosa. A lot of the players that have meshed well with him aren't your traditional high-octane pure goal scores. They are guys who work really hard. They are guys who think the game really well, and they are guys who play a pretty straightforward game. That pretty much describes Justin Brzo. So I do think that, that there is potential for that to work for the next few games. I also look at it from McGrordy's point of view where we have talked about how Kyle Dubus and this management staff has said, they are not going to block the road for these younger players. They are going to earn spots in the lineup.

Starting point is 00:04:18 And while McGrordy is near the top of the list of their best prospects, he went down for that conditioning stint into Wilkes-Barre, played extremely. extremely well. So instead of playing it safe and saying it's only three games for Rust, we're just going to put Hayes in the lineup. They said, you know what? McGroity has earned this. He's back up.

Starting point is 00:04:40 And that's a good sign for the organization moving forward. It's nothing against Hayes. I will continue to say on this show that while I don't think the guy has a lot left in his career, he still has some value as a 13th forward. but I am really happy that the organization and the coaching staff said, you know what? We got the young guy. He's got the legs.

Starting point is 00:05:02 We're putting him in the lineup. Right. And I think another thing is before he got sent down for those few games, I didn't have a problem with the way he was playing. I thought he was totally fine. He was strained together, totally, you know, good performances. It was just that when this team is fully healthy, there's not a set spot in the lineup for him.

Starting point is 00:05:21 And it's nothing against him. It's nothing against Billy. It's nothing against anyone. down on Wilkesbury. It just goes to show how deep this penguin's team is compared to a few teams in years past where there would 100% be a full roster spot available to him just because those teams weren't that deep. But this one, they can roll four lines against the best teams in the league.

Starting point is 00:05:40 So, blah, blah. I think with Rucker, though, he'll have an opportunity for over the next few games to, you know, try and solidify himself potentially going forward, even when Rust is eligible to come back from his suspension. I still think overall he likely is the one to come out. I'm not sure they're going to want to take anyone else out. But hey, he'll have an opportunity to show that maybe someone else

Starting point is 00:06:03 could potentially be coming out of lineup. But again, I'm excited for him to be on that third line with Kendall and Mantha. Otherwise, no surprises with the other two lines. You're not breaking up that fourth line with the way it's going right now. Second line with Malkin, Novak and Chinikov. You're not going to do that either. Defensively, top two pairings are the same pat.

Starting point is 00:06:21 And it looks like Connor, Clifton will be a healthy scratch for Ilya Solovio, who will make his penguins debut tonight against Blackhawks. This is a player who they've been kind of getting up to speed a little bit. They've been trying to get him to learn the system. So I'm excited to see what he can do in his debut tonight. I am too. I said it when they got him. It is a very intriguing player for them to have because we know that that left side is not that great.

Starting point is 00:06:49 It's worked so far this year. obviously Watherspoon has been a revelation that looks like one of the best signings not just for the penguins but of the entire offseason with what they got him for and how well he has played for the team. Kulak has been better than expected. Really has stabilized Chris Lattang's game and brought him back to life. But then away from that, it's a real mismash. So he's posted some good numbers in his limited NHL action.

Starting point is 00:07:20 We'll see if he can carry that over to the penguins. But at this point, you might as well give it a shot and see what you have. You didn't really have to give up much of anything to get him. So you give him a run of a couple games, see how he does, see if you like his game. And if he works, great. It's found money. If not, you keep experimenting on that bottom pairing. And hopefully you can find some consistency without Jack St. Ivany, which again,

Starting point is 00:07:49 as I have continued to say, I'm not sitting here saying that the kid's going to be an all star in the future. I'm not saying that the kid is going to be absolutely tremendous. But in the last few weeks, St. Ivany has stabilized a little bit and shown some ability to play in that bottom pairing role. But at this point, we're pretty much just back to where we've been for the majority of the season, where you're trying to figure out what this bottom pair is going to look like, how it's going to work.

Starting point is 00:08:19 And when you got this new player, you might as well see what you got for a couple games. Exactly. And he'll kind of be the first player to get a true shot at who is going to replace St. Ivanian in the lineup. I'm sure they're going to rotate him for Connor Clifton at some point, but they're just giving Solov the first chance. In 16 games this season,

Starting point is 00:08:36 he's played a little over 181 minutes, five on five. His underlying spade, excuse me, have been pretty solid. When he's been on the ice, Avalanche had 57% of the shot of Thames, 58.6% of the expected goal share, 60% of the scoring chances and 60% of the high danger chances. So again, very small sample, a little over 181 minutes, but the early returns for him when he was on the ice, I know Colorado's a juggernaut, but the early returns were still pretty solid.

Starting point is 00:09:02 So I'm excited to see how he looks tonight. And Pat and I will definitely have more on him for the Friday edition of the show. But that's going to do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to do more of a preview for this game against the Blackhawks, who to watch out for. for X factors, keys to victory, all that good stuff. And that's coming up right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor, which is Indeed.

Starting point is 00:09:29 If you've ever hired someone who looked good on paper but wasn't the right fit, you know how important that is. When you want candidates who truly match what you're looking for, trust Indeed, sponsored jobs. Hiring, Indeed is all you need. Stop struggling to get your job posts seen on other websites. Indeed's sponsor jobs, put your post at the top of the page and help you reach the right candidates fast. If I needed to hire someone for this show to help out Pat and I,

Starting point is 00:09:52 I would go straight to Indeed and be very specific about what I need. Real experience, not just a resume buzzword. Instead of struggling to get your job post seen, Indeed's sponsor jobs helps your listing stand out and reach quality candidates faster. Sponsor jobs boost your post to the people who are the best match for your role, and that makes a real difference. Spend more time interviewing candidates who check all your boxes with less stress, less time and more results using Indeed's sponsored jobs.

Starting point is 00:10:20 Listeners of the show, you will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at Indy.com slash locked on. Just go to Indeed.com slash locked on right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply hiring. Do it the right way within Indeed. All right. We're back here on this episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast.

Starting point is 00:10:48 I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my good friend and co-host Patrick Damp and Pat. Second of two meetings between the penguins and the Blackhawks tonight. The Blackhawks, 21, 23, and 9, good for sixth place in the Central. They have also lost three in a row in six of their last eight games. This is a team that they had a nice start to this season, but they've been fading as of wait. They're not going to be a playoff team this year. They're still, to me, a year or two away.

Starting point is 00:11:16 They still got to get more talent into this. lineup. But it all starts with Connor Bedard, who is back healthy. He missed the first matchup between these two teams in December, which was a 7 to 3 win for the Penguins that actually really got this hot streak started. Penguins have won 11 of their last 15 games. All started with that game right after the Christmas break against Blackhawks where Penguins went into Chicago and just pummeled them. But Badard, he's back healthy. He's having a great year, 20 goals and 49 points in 40 games. The puck explodes off his stick. It's such a unique release with the way his stick curves in the way the puck comes off of his stick.

Starting point is 00:11:50 It's so fun to watch when you get to see him play. So really excited to get to watch him play tonight. Frank Nazar is on his line. When he's healthy, he's very fun to watch. He has six goals and 21 points in 37 games. Tyler Bertuzzi is also in their top six. He has 25 goals, which leads the team. 39 points in 50 games.

Starting point is 00:12:09 They also are getting contributions from Taravanan, Barackowski, Ryan Donato, et cetera, et cetera. So even outside of Bidar, there are still players, Bardard and Bertuzi, that is. There are still players on here that can hurt you. But this is also a Blackhawks team where a lot of their metrics are not good this year. They rank 32nd in the league at 5 on top 5 in terms of expected goals year, and 27th in the league in actual goals at 44.5%.

Starting point is 00:12:35 And if you take a step further with some of their defensive metrics, which are not good this year, they've given up the sixth most scoring chances at 5 on 5 and the most high danger chances allowed at 5 on 5 this year. So this is an opportunity for the penguins to really feast on a bad defensive team tonight. Right. And something else that's going to help them out a little bit is Soder Blom is going to be in the net for them. The game last time, the 7 to 3 victory, to me, if nothing else, that was an anomaly of a game for Chicago. I agree with the numbers and everything that you said.

Starting point is 00:13:10 Mostly because Spencer Knight played and he had his worst start of the season. Right. And I had spent the entire preview episode in the lead up to that game, talking about how good Spencer Knight was and that they have found their goaltender of the future, which I still very much believe because you look at his overall numbers this year, even with the game against the Penguins back with the start of this Penguins Hot Street, 15, 14 and 7, 9, 10, save percentage 3 shutouts. I say it a lot about a young team like Chicago.

Starting point is 00:13:41 Often the hardest thing to find is your franchise goaltender when you're rebuilding. and it looks like they got their guy. But this is to me a young team that is learning how to win because you look at their last 10 in who they've beaten and who they've lost to. They're on a three game losing streak right now. They lose to Minnesota, Florida, and Tampa. A lot of teams are going to lose to them. They scratch and claw their way to a shootout win against Carolina.

Starting point is 00:14:14 They beat a struggling Winnipeg team. then they lose to Boston. Again, Boston, they may not be the best team right now, but they are definitely much like the Penguins better than once thought, but they also got a win over Nashville. They lost to Edmonton, another good team. So this is a young, talented Blackhawks team that for the most part is beating teams they need to beat or should beat

Starting point is 00:14:39 and then losing the teams that they're probably going to lose to. But you can see the talent. You can see the vision for this Blackhawks team, and they're not far off. You said Bedard. I mean, it took a couple of years, but he has arrived. This kid is really good. You're going to have to slow him down tonight. But again, you look at their lineup, it's not that impressive.

Starting point is 00:15:07 You look at their bottom six, Ryan Green, Oliver Moore, Andre Burekofsky, Colton Doc, Nick Falino, and Ryan Donato. That's a good bottom six, five, six years ago. Now those are the guys who are teaching the young guys the way. So realistically, if you're the Penguins tonight, just continue doing the things that have brought you success during this hot streak. And it's a team that you should beat. Right. I agree.

Starting point is 00:15:37 And also off that, I want to see the Penguins have a fast start tonight. You've been off for the last several days. Hopstar has to be critical here, you know. There might be some rust involved just because you haven't played since Sunday. You had a day off on Wednesday. Yeah, you practiced on Tuesday. But still, like, it might take a couple of shifts to really get your legs back. But I still, outside of maybe a couple shifts like that,

Starting point is 00:16:00 I want to see a good start tonight just because back home, really big three game homestand, especially against teams that are lower than you in the standings, points that you really want to bank, considering how tough March is going to be coming up. And Pat and are going to have a lot of time during the Olympic break to really discuss how pivotal that month is going to be for their playoff push. But this is a game that you really want to have the Islanders won last night. They've now tied you again in the standings of the Penguins do have the games in hand.

Starting point is 00:16:26 The Islanders do play again against the Rangers tonight. But, you know, this game, similar to the one against New York on Saturday, and then the Ottawa game, and we're going to discuss more about that to end the show. You know, these are the games you really want to bank points and show that, you know, you are truly better than these teams. And another big key for me, you know, special teams, as always, Black Hawk, right around league average for their power play. I want to see the Penguins PK do well,

Starting point is 00:16:51 but Black Hawk's penalty kill, that number one in the league, 85.5% going up against a penguin power play that is third in the league at 27.4%. Only behind Edmonton and Dallas. That, my friend, is going to be a fun matchup tonight. It is. And you have to hope now that Carlson is back

Starting point is 00:17:11 and he's had a little bit of time to get his timing back, to get his legs back underneath them, that this power play is going to figure it out because it's funny. For the majority of this season, we have been sitting or saying, you know,

Starting point is 00:17:26 this power play's got to get back on track. This power play's got to get back on track. It's very much champagne problems because I think the furthest they have fallen at this point is fifth in the league. So they've kind of had it figured out for most of the season. We're almost getting to the point of nitpicking. But this is going to be the biggest challenge to date because it is a very good penalty kill.

Starting point is 00:17:51 They do not give you very much. They're pretty aggressive. It's not quite power kill level like some teams do. But I would say it's a hybrid of it where they're not overly aggressive where they're pressing you at every point of attack. But they are very smart. They know the moments when to attack, when to put you on. your heels. So for the penguins, for me to be a broken record here, they do need to get back to one of the things, especially earlier this season that brought them a lot of power play success.

Starting point is 00:18:27 And that is constant movement. And that means the puck. That means bodies. That means shooting. You can't give this Chicago PK the opportunity to put you on your heels. You have to back them up. you have to keep them scrambled. You cannot sit still or you're going to get nothing against this Chicago penalty kill. That and I also want to see the zone entries cleaned up a little bit. I think those have been very clunky over the last several games where they're having trouble, gaining the zone, you know, leading to easy clears for the opposing penalty killers. It just hasn't been all the way there.

Starting point is 00:19:06 So I do want to see that cleaned up. And then once I think that happens, you'll see everything else fall into place with the movement, getting the high danger areas, establishing that net front presence, getting those high quality scoring chances, all that. But I think the two biggest people, the two biggest people on the first, especially the first power play unit that I think can really make a difference in that. And I know this is going to hurt the hearts, especially me too, of a lot of the analytical people when it comes to the power play, you're going to have to do some dump and chase

Starting point is 00:19:41 against this Chicago penalty kill. But when you have the likes of the greatest grinder of all time in Sydney Crosby on your top unit, along with Igor Chinikov, who is extremely fast, your goal at the very least, if you don't have a clean entry, is to put the puck deep and have one of those two just fly to it and just get into that forecheck, make sure that you have Chicago's backs turned, and then you have everybody else get in position and get set up and win that puck battle because they are going to stack the line. They are going to try to disrupt you in the neutral zone.

Starting point is 00:20:19 And as much as it may be an old notion, one of the best ways to break that is to just put it behind them and go to work. Right. I agree. And outside of that, in goal for the Penguins, Archer She-Lovs is going to start after having the night off on Sunday as Damned continues, the goalie rotation ever slow slightly. So that would mean Stuart Skinner would start on Saturday against the Rangers. Again, no surprise that she logs is going tonight against this Black Hawk's team.

Starting point is 00:20:47 But I'm going to do it for this preview of the game against Chicago. Coming up to end the show, we're going to discuss a bit more in depth about this upcoming stretch for the penguins and how they should be should wins. But again, in the NHL, nothing is guaranteed. So Pat and I are going to discuss that coming up right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our final sponsor, which is Rocket Money. Let's be real. Managing your finances can feel overwhelming between subscriptions you forgot about,

Starting point is 00:21:17 bills that keep going up and trying to figure out where all your money actually goes each month, it's easy to feel like you're losing control. And who has time to track every transaction or hunt down hidden fees? That's where Rocket Money comes in. The personal finance app that helps you take control, it finds and cancels your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow. your savings. I love how it tracks all my subscriptions and lets me cancel them right in the app

Starting point is 00:21:43 with just a few taps. No more hunting down customer service numbers. Automatic transaction categorization. It's also a game changer. I can finally see exactly where my money is going each and every month. You can also set budgets and goals, get personalized insights, and receive real-time alerts for large transactions, upcoming bills, and low balances. It even consolidates your checking, savings, loans, and investments into a single. dashboard so you get a clear view of your entire financial picture. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster right now. Join at RocketMoney.com slash locked on. That's RocketMoney.com slash locked on. One more time for you guys, RocketMoney.com slash locked on. All right,

Starting point is 00:22:29 we're back here on this Thursday edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my good friend in Coast Patrick Camp. And Pat, yeah, like this upcoming stretch here for the Penguins, five more games. the Olympic break, three of them against non-playoff teams. It's simple, man. You have to take advantage, especially with how difficult the schedule is going to be in March where, I mean, I was going through it earlier today, doing prep for the show, literally, playoff team, playoff team, playoff team, playoff team, there's a non-playoff team in there,

Starting point is 00:22:59 playoff team, playoff team in there, literally, like, it's that crazy of a schedule where you're playing all these great teams on basically every other night basis, and there's including some back-to-backs in there. So you want to take advantage of this part of this schedule where you're not facing a ton of juggernauts. Yeah, I know next week, you'll play a Sabres team that is 19 and 3 and 1 in their last 23 games. This Sabers team finally looks like a playoff team.

Starting point is 00:23:26 I am so happy for Sabers fans. They deserve this. That's going to be a tough game. The Islanders, that's a four-point swing game. You've already beaten them ones. That's going to be still a tough game up on Long Island. But these next three men against a Blackhawks team that's not there yet, a Rangers team that is literally just losing games.

Starting point is 00:23:44 They are terrible. Artemey Panarin is now being held out of the lineup. The Penguins will face a Rangers team on Saturday without him. Probably Igor Shistercan and probably Adam Fox, because those latter two aren't even back practicing. And then a senator's team that is also not very good. However, the senators have had the Penguins number quite a bit these last few years. So that's not going to be a pushover. But it's still a game you want to win, considering how much Ottawa has struggled this year, especially their goaltending.

Starting point is 00:24:11 But you got to take this one game at a time. You can't be looking ahead on the schedule or anything like that. Take it one game at a time. And if the penguins can play up to the level that we know they can play at, they can win these games. And again, you want to take advantage of this schedule. I know you were saying we got to take it one game at a time. And we absolutely do.

Starting point is 00:24:33 But along with March being as condensed as it is because of the Olympics, I want to highlight the end of March to give you an idea of how difficult March is going to be for the penguins. Starting the week of Sunday, March 22nd, they play the Carolina Hurricanes, then the Colorado Avalanche, then the Ottawa Senators, then the Dallas stars, then the Islanders, and then the Red Wings. that is six games against teams that are both really good or have had your number for quite some time. Especially Ottawa. So you get back to now. Obviously it starts with tonight. Chicago, they are getting there.

Starting point is 00:25:23 They're not quite there yet. It's a game you should win. The Rangers, they have more than waived the white flag on this. And they're done. You do not want to lose that game. And there's the added motivation of it's a 10-year anniversary game of the Stanley Cup championship in 2016. Fans are going to be excited for that simply because, one, you're celebrating one of the more fun championships in the history of this team

Starting point is 00:25:50 and your old coach is going to be in the building. You should probably win that one. Then, like you said, playing the senators, team that has had your number. you don't match up that well against, but you should get those points. Then the Islanders and the Sabers. Those are two teams that you're going to be jockeying for position with to get into the postseason. It looks like the rest of the way. So stacking points against them is going to be really, really crucial.

Starting point is 00:26:21 And something that I do think can really work in this team's favor is in the lead up to to the Christmas break, they were struggling. They were really going through it. They got the few days off for the holiday. And since then, they have come back absolutely on fire. If they can stack points before going to the Olympics and then you get that two and a half weeks off, this team is going to come back refreshed and ready to go. Because you're not sending that many people to the Olympics. The majority of this roster is going to get time off. They're going to get healthy.

Starting point is 00:27:03 They're going to get rested. They're going to be ready to go. And you come out from the break with probably a pretty motivated Sidney Crosby who just, I'm going to assume wins gold at the Olympics because we've done and done that already. But at the end of the day, it's more than just beating the teams that you need to beat. It's the fact that you're going to have an opportunity to come out of the Olympic break in really good position. and with how tough March is going to be, if you give yourself a little bit of breathing room

Starting point is 00:27:36 and you drop a couple of games, it's not going to be a fatal couple of losses. Right. Like those points that you stack over the next week, Pat, they don't just go away when March starts. You have those points, obviously, for the rest of the season. So again, that's another important thing for you want to bang those points, solidify yourselves even more.

Starting point is 00:27:58 so when you're off for, you know, those two and a half weeks, you come back, everyone is recharged, refreshed, and ready to go. And that's also something that I've seen, you know, some people say on, you know, different social media websites, oh, man, this break could come at the wrong time because this team is so hot. I disagree. I think it would come also at a really good time. Say, for example, they win three, these next five or, you know, four to five. Say they get six to ten points.

Starting point is 00:28:26 You put yourself in a really good position. And yeah, you're still hot going into the break, but you're going to get quite a bit of time off from most of your players. You're going to come back and everyone is going to be ready to go for that really tough stretch in March, which is going to make a break whether you get into the playoffs. So I think this could only mean good things for the Penguins just because a lot of your players, especially someone like Evgeny Malkin, man,

Starting point is 00:28:51 he's been banged up quite a bit ever since that shoulder injury. It's still obvious that he's not at 100%. Think about what those two and a half weeks, are going to mean to him getting that shoulder injury, just closer back to 100%, everyone else that may be nicked up a little bit, nursing, whatever small injury they have. Because usually around this time,

Starting point is 00:29:11 you're going into February, other players, they're not going to say what they're dealing with, but some other players are probably not 100% either. They'll also have time to get 100% healthy. So I think it can only mean good things for them. But again, I think if you can go three and two over these next five, get six out of ten points. I think you're sitting pretty going into the break.

Starting point is 00:29:32 I do too. And I love that point about Evgeny Malkin because I know in and stay with me, this is going to be a little bit of an adventure, ladies and gentlemen, but I know that in recent years, we have talked a lot about Tampa Bay in Florida and everything about income tax and salary cap and yada, yada, you know what else they have that's a real advantage? warm weather. And I know that sounds like kind of a, oh yeah, who wouldn't want to go live in a place that's warm? You know what an underrated part of living and playing in a warm climate is?

Starting point is 00:30:11 It helps with your injuries because you're not waking up in the cold. You're not waking up and needing to get all stretched out. And you know where of Gennie Malkin lives in the offseason? Florida. You know where he's probably going to go for the Olympic break? Florida. So he's going to get time to be in that warm weather, to recover, to get a little bit healthier, and add that with how motivated he has been this year.

Starting point is 00:30:36 I'm kind of looking at we might have a pretty good march for Hvgeny Malkin. I sure hope so. And you mentioned that one stretch in March that's pretty bad. I thought you were going to mention the other one, Pat, where it's Carolina, Colorado, Vegas, Utah, and then Carolina again. That five-game trip is going to be brutal. But hey, this team's been very good on the road this year. But still, just looking at that on paper,

Starting point is 00:31:04 that is a tough trip, especially considering, you know, two of those games in Carolina, a place they haven't won. And, you know, quite a few seasons now. That's a building that they've really struggled in. But, again, I agree with you to that point on Afghani Morgan. Just, again, for everyone, that's not going to the Olympics. It's going to be a nice, you know, time to decompress. You can take your family on vacation for a week.

Starting point is 00:31:25 and a half get away from things and then come back ready to go for the stretch run, which is going to be a lot of fun. But I think that's going to do it for the Thursday edition of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back for another edition of the show on Friday to recap this game against Chicago and get you all set for Saturdays game against the Rangers. Plus, it's Friday. Send us your takes.

Starting point is 00:31:51 Send us your questions for Fan Take Friday. So for Patrick Damp, I am Hunter Hodes. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. We'll be back on Friday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins get Rutger McGroarty back ahead of CRUCIAL 5-game stretch!

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.